Sunday, 16 December 2012

The History of Thriller

Early thrillers,
1920's–1930's – the first thrillers-Alfred Hitchcock – The
Lodger (1926) à based on the story of Jack the Ripper-Alfred Hitchcock –
Blackmail (1929) à his first film with sound-Fritz Lang (1931) à based on the life of serial killer, Peter Kurten

1940's and 1950's –
Murder and war thrillers-Alfred Hitchcock –
Shadow of a doubt (1943) à based on a 1920’s serial killer known
as The Merry Widow Murderer-Rear window (1954) à a man who is being convinced that his neighbor is a
killer-Robert Aldrich – Kiss me
deadly (1955) à about a detective encountering a nuclear
apocalypse

1960's – Psychological thrillers-Michael Powell – Peeping Tom (1960) -Alfred Hitchcock – Psycho (1960)-Terence Young - The triple cross (1967) à
based on a true story about a man who joined with the Germans during the war and
then became a British double-agent

1970's and 1980's – Hybrid
genres of thriller and spy-Clint Eastwood – Play Misty
for me (1971) à about a jockey pursued by a disturbed female listener-The conversation
(1974) àa bugging-device expert uncovered a covert
murder while he himself was being spied upon-Brian De Palma – Blow out
(1981) à about the effects on a man who witnessed the
accidental killing of the governor

Brian De Palma includes
themes of guilt, paranoia and obsession in his films. Similar plot elements include killing off a main
character early on, switching points of view and dream sequences.